Venison pasta bake

Author: Sarah Swain - Food writer, stylist and recipe creator

Photographer: Mark O'Meara

First published: Jun 2013

Serves: 6

Time to make: 50 mins

Hands-on time: 10 mins

Total cost: $27.00 / $4.50 per serve

(at time of publication)

Ingredients

More weights & measures

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

500g venison or beef mince

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup liquid salt-reduced meat stock made with 1 teaspoon salt-reduced stock powder and ¼ cup water

670g passata

¼ cup red wine

1 ½ teaspoons dried mixed herbs

400g pasta shapes

250g low-fat ricotta cheese

50g freshly grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup skim milk

1 ½ cups grated carrots

1 ½ cups grated courgetteszucchini, summer squashX

2 cups baby spinach

Instructions

1 Cook onion in oil until softened. Add garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Add mince and cook until browned. Add cinnamon, stock, passata, wine and herbs. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes until sauce has thickened.

2 Meanwhile, cook pasta following packet directions. Lightly grease a large ovenproof dish. Preheat oven to 190∞C.

3 Mix ricotta, parmesan and milk together. Season. Stir into pasta. Add mince to ovenproof dish with grated veges and spinach. Top with pasta mix. Toss to mix ingredients together. Bake for 25-30 minutes then serve with chopped fresh herbs if you prefer.

Serving suggestion

Serve with Warm winter salad (see tip).

Variations

Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free pasta and stock powder and check cinnamon is gluten free.
Can be made with whole-wheat pasta and whatever pasta shape you wish.

HFG tip

You will need a large 2.5-3 litre capacity ovenproof dish to make this bake. Reduce the cooking time by about 5 minutes if made as individual servings.

Warm winter salad

This yummy salad goes well with pasta dishes.

Grate red cabbage, white cabbage and carrot. Thinly slice spring onions. Toss together in a frying pan with a little olive oil. Heat for a few minutes then add baby spinach and cook for a few more minutes. Drizzle with avocado oil and serve with a pasta bake.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 476cal

Kilojoules 1990kJ

Protein 36g

Total fat 9g

–Saturated fat 4g

Carbohydrates 60g

–Sugars 10g

Dietary fibre 7g

Sodium 520mg

Calcium 290mg

Iron 6mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.

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